Arrest Made In Girl's Death

July 20, 2002|By Rick Bragg The New York Times

STANTON, Calif. — A man who was acquitted of molesting two girls two years ago was arrested on Friday in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Samantha Runnion, the 5-year-old girl whose abused body was found Tuesday -- left in a gruesome, terrifying pose in the hills southeast of this suburban city.

Alejandro Avila, a 27-year-old production line supervisor at a medical equipment plant, was arrested Friday morning on suspicion of kidnapping and murder in a case that left fear and dread in the people of this corner of California, people who hope this arrest is a solution to a crime too terrible to comprehend.

In a voice that broke with emotion, Michael Carona, the Orange County sheriff, said he was "100 percent certain" that Avila killed the little girl in such a manner that made this case personal. "I told you we would hunt you down," said the sheriff, referring to Avila.

"If you thought for one minute we were kidding, tonight you know we were deadly serious," he said. He said Samantha became everyone's child when she was taken.

"If this were the Old West, you'd all be in the sheriff's posse," said Carona, speaking to the people of Southern California through TV cameras at a news conference in Stanton on Friday night. He said that thousands of tips from the public, an investigation involving hundreds of officers and help from the media in getting out word and a suspect description in the manhunt combined to produce what he believes is a quick resolution to the crime, and to the trail of evidence that led investigators to Avila.

But he stressed that their investigation is far from over, and said he does not want the stream of information that has poured in from callers to dry up just because a suspect has been arrested.

Police officials have made it clear that their evidence -- which is believed to contain forensic evidence such as fibers found on the body -- ties Avila to the body of the little girl, who was sexually assaulted and suffocated before being left on the edge of a forest.

Avila, who lives with his mother in Lake Elsinore, about 60 miles from Stanton and about 10 miles from the roadside scrub where the girl's body was found, had been accused of assaulting children before.

He was arrested two years ago and charged with lewd conduct in the molestations of two 9-year-old girls, but was acquitted, officials in Riverside County said.

Those charges, said Avila's mother, Adelina Avila, were false, and resulted from a vengeful former girlfriend's made-up charges. "I know my son," said Avila, speaking through a crack in her door. "I know him enough." She said her son was arrested because of "that other charge," referring to the trial in which he was acquitted. She said her son was at a mall at the time the little girl was taken, and could not have been involved in the crime.